1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a nanostructure as an advanced functional material having a nano sized structure, and a manufacturing method of the nanostructure.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-343117, filed Nov. 26, 2004, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is widely known, under a size smaller than a specific value, thin films, thin wires, pores, and dots of a metal or a semiconductor exhibit, specific electronic, optical, and chemical properties. Based on that knowledge, a nanostructure of several ten to hundred nanometers in size is expected as an advanced functional material, and extensive study has been carried out on such a nanostructure (ex. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2003-332561, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2003-266400).
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2003-332561 discloses a method of forming a functional material utilizing a peptide bond. In that method, a specific amino acid to which a nanostructure is selectively connected is integrated at a predetermined position of an array of amino acids of a peptide bond chain. By the stereo structure of the peptide bond, spatial arrangement of one or a plurality of nanostructures can be determined.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2003-266400 discloses a manufacturing method of a nano-structured silicon oxide including: (a) a process for preparing aluminum and silicon; (b) a process for forming, using a filim formation method under a disequilibrium condition, a film-shape mixture of aluminum and silicon composed of 20-70 atomic % Si and valance Al and having a texture in which aluminum rods are surrounded by a silicon matrix region; and (c) a process for forming fine holes by anodizing the mixed film of aluminum and silicon.
These technologies are expected to be widely utilized not only in the field of chemistry, but also in the fields of medicine, pharmacy, biology, and other fields.
A manufacturing method of a nanostructure can be applied with a fine patterning technique used in semiconductor processing, such as photo lithography or electron beam radiation.
However, those prior arts require high manufacturing cost and cannot provide a high yield. In addition, manufacturing methods in the prior arts are based on a two-dimensional process and cannot be appropriately used in the mass production of three-dimensionally structured materials.
Therefore, novel nanostructures have been investigated by the use of an assembly of nano-sized particles arranged in accordance with the naturally formed systematic structure (self organized structure). However, a general process of self organization using isotropic particles only achieves a closest packing structure of fine particles.